paul flannery

NBA Preview: Top five storylines

We are on the brink of a historic NBA season, one that has been several years in the making. When LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade employed the nuclear option this summer, the fallout set the league off on an entirely new course.
But, how long will it last?
Forces are aligning on both sides of the management/labor divide threatening to completely re-write the way the league does business. Against that backdrop, the Celtics and Lakers will try to stake their claim once again to the top prize.
Here are the top five storylines for what should be a remarkable NBA season: THE HEAT IS ON
Lost in the hysteria over The Decision, which was either an exercise in cold-blooded calculations or an example of extreme naïveté, is this: The Miami Heat are the best thing to happen to the NBA since Michael Jordan retired from the Bulls.
There have been signature teams since Jordan walked away from the Bulls dynasty — most prominently, Tim Duncan’s Spurs and the Shaq-Kobe Lakers — but there has not been a team that will be under this level of scrutiny from the opening tip.
If you’re simply a basketball fan, the idea of James and Wade on the same side should give you chills. If you have a particular rooting interest, this is the team you despise. And if you enjoy train wrecks, this has Jersey Shore-level potential because the Heat will not only be viewed through the lens of the 24-7 sports media world, but also the unchained filters of TMZ and US Weekly. LeBron, D-Wade and, to a lesser extent, Bosh, brought the entire sport to a standstill in July, and now we get to see how it unfolds.
If it works, it could set the template for a future NBA where star players control the entire team-building process, with loyalties formed on the AAU circuit rather than in any city. Without question, it will have an impact on the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is set to expire after this season.
Like it or not, the Heat are here and they have everyone’s attention. ONCE MORE, INTO THE ABYSS
Nothing, not even the creation of Pat Riley’s Miami Monster, turns fans off more than negotiations over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The issues, however, are very real and they will cast a long shadow over the most anticipated NBA season in years.
We have already seen an early skirmish as the union has threatened to file legal action against the NBA over the stringent rules regarding technical fouls. In an indication as to how this will go, the league responded 24 hours later saying they wouldn’t budge.
That’s a side issue in a much larger environment, but while both sides have cooled a bit from the white-hot rhetoric of last season, don’t expect there to be much in the way of conciliation. No sooner had everyone said nice things about each other than new Wizards owner Ted Leonsis talked up the benefits of a hard salary cap, an indiscretion that cost him $100,000.
The two sides are gearing up for a long fight and how it develops will help shape the NBA for the next generation. THE KEVIN DURANT SHOW
Speaking of the next generation, behold the NBA’s great new hope riding in on the white horse of honor, respect and humility. Meet Kevin Durant.
There are two aspects to the Durant story this season. The first is of a rising young star, with a game as aesthetically pleasing as it is effective, who has the potential to carry the league into the next decade. The other is the narrative casting Durant as the anti-LeBron.
In the hours before James took over the airwaves, Durant quietly signed an extension with the Thunder with no public rancor or posturing. He showed up to summer league because he wanted to be around the guys and then dominated the FIBA World Championships while the older stars stayed home.
Whether he has been put in this position by a revved-up media looking for an antidote to The Decision or he is actively staking out this turf remains to be seen. But, while it’s an imperfect analogy, the potential for Durant-LeBron to be this era’s Bird and Magic is simply too good to ignore.
His team might be a year away, but the time is now for Durant. WHITHER CARMELO?
Carmelo Anthony came into the NBA with LeBron, Wade and Bosh, but while those three elected to take shorter extensions, Anthony signed on for the whole bit. And now he’s stuck.
Stuck isn’t exactly the right word, since he has played a leading role on a Nuggets team that has ranged from good to very good since he entered the league and has in front of him a massive extension at over $20 million a season waiting for his signature.
But Anthony wants out and he reportedly wants to go to either New York or Chicago. Those teams are resisting because they either don’t have the assets (New York) or they don’t want to pay the premium (Joakim Noah), so Anthony waits, his fate not entirely in his hands.
There are said to be larger forces at work in all of this; shadowy power brokers with their own agendas. Anthony, and soon Chris Paul, are simply the latest test cases in the ongoing battle for control between players and management. THE LAST WALTZ?
Their star player is dealing with injuries accrued over several lifetimes worth of games. Their young center had knee surgery and their indispensible coach decided to come back for one last round after some internal debate and soul-searching.
Yes, we’re talking about the Lakers, who share more in common with the Celtics than they probably care to admit, right down to the belief that both teams coasted through parts of last season.
The difference is that while the Celtics had to earn back their credibility during their playoff run, the Lakers never lost it. They enter the season as the favorites if for no other reason than they have earned that right after two straight championships and three straight Western Conference crowns.
It would be a fitting end to this particular era if these old rivals met one more time in the Finals, with a third meeting to settle this latest chapter in their half-century-long blood feud. Simply getting there, for both the Lakers and Celtics, will be the challenge.

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